The Princess and the Toad
by PhoenixRisingOnTheMoon
Summary: AU based on the prompt "my chorus students sing a love song to you in front of your whole class on valentine's day au". SQ. Oneshot.


**A/N: This is an AU where Regina and Emma teach at the same high school. Regina is the music teacher and Emma is the gym teacher. Enjoy!**

* * *

One week. It had been one week since Emma had walked out on her.

She remembers the fight clearly in her mind. It had started out with Emma asking Regina to play a simple game of Mario Kart with her.

And then all hell broke loose.

" _Emma, I'm sick of playing Mario Kart all the time! I feel like all we do is have sex and play video games_."

Which someone led to more arguing, ending with the blonde shouting that Regina didn't even love her and then promptly storming out of the brunette's home.

Six beautiful months down the drain, just like that. And Regina still didn't understand why.

What did Emma mean by Regina not loving her? Of course Regina loved her. She was just… never one for words.

But she showed it. Or, at least, she thought she did.

Impromptu foot massages on the couch. Cooking Emma's favorite dishes when the blonde was over for dinner. Bringing her leftovers of her favorite dishes for lunch the next day. Buying her the red leather jacket she was so fond of.

Apparently it wasn't enough.

"Miss Mills… are you okay?"

Regina looked up at the timid student in the front row who asked the question. "Yes, I'm fine. Why would you think otherwise?"

"Class started ten minutes ago and you haven't said anything," the student replied.

"I…" Regina looked over at the clock and saw that the student was right. She sighed. "I guess I was just… lost in my thoughts." She cleared her throat and strode over to the piano bench, taking a seat and opening up the first binder on the stand. "Everyone take out 'Dance Macabre' and prepare to start at the B-section."

"But we haven't warmed up yet!"

"And that's the _band's_ song, not ours!"

Regina looked down at the score in front of her and then up at her students, who were all standing without instruments in their hands. _This is the choir_. She sighed and rubbed one of her temples.

"Is this about Miss Swan?"

That got the brunette's attention. "What do you mean by that?"

The student shrugged. "Well, I just noticed that she was kind of… off today, like you." There was a pause. "See, you didn't even glare or yell at me for that."

Regina took a deep breath in and let it out. "Not that it is any of your business, but… Miss Swan and I are… going through a difficult time at the moment and it appears that I am not acting like my usual self due to it. No worries are needed, however, because we still have more than enough time to practice before the concert—"

"Does that mean we have extra time?" another student interrupted.

"In a manner of speaking, yes, we have extra time, due to us being much farther along than I thought we would," Regina said, "but that doesn't mean you're going to get free time."

The student shook his head. "I wasn't thinking of free time. I was thinking… maybe we could help you out?" A few students seemed to understand what he was saying and heartily agreed.

Regina furrowed her eyebrows and stood, crossing her arms over her chest. "How so?"

The student grinned mischievously. "By starting up a little operation…"

* * *

Weeks flew by. Emma and Regina hadn't said a word to each other, and to the blonde, that meant that they were through for good. It seemed that her now ex-girlfriend cared about her just as little as she had when they'd been in a relationship.

To make matters worse, it was Friday the 13th. February 13th, to be exact— the day before Valentine's Day, and Emma had no one to celebrate it with now that she and Regina were broken up.

To top off the cherry on her perfect life, it seemed that the superstitions surrounding Friday the 13th had come true that day.

First, her alarm hadn't gone off in the morning and she had ten minutes to get ready. Then, her beloved bug got a flat tire at the bottom of the driveway to the school and she had to walk in the rain to the entrance. And even after all that, she still had six classes to teach, all of which were full of students who were excited for the weekend.

This resulted in her letting them burn off some of the energy with a good old-fashioned game of dodgeball. Which, in turn, resulted in her getting hit in the head. Four times.

It was the final period of the day now, though. Forty minutes until she was free to go home, order takeout, and binge watch something on Netflix while drowning her sorrow in alcohol and Ben and Jerry's.

Halfway through the period, the doors to the gym opened and Regina walked through, looking as perfect and elegant as always.

Emma glanced at her students before taking just a couple of steps towards her ex.

"What are you doing here?" Emma asked in an annoyed tone. "You have choir this period."

Regina nodded. "I know, but… we need to talk."

Emma scoffed. "Now you want to talk," she muttered. She shook her head. "Can't it wait? I have a class, too, in case you didn't notice."

"Oh I noticed," Regina said, glancing at the students who had stopped their game and were staring at the duo, waiting to see what happened.

Emma shifted uncomfortably. "Well… what do you want? And make it quick."

"When we… had that fight a few weeks ago, you told me I didn't love you," Regina said softly. "And that's far from the truth."

"Then why didn't you ever say it?" Emma asked quietly.

"I… don't know how to love very well," Regina admitted. "And when I try to show it, it isn't always communicated clearly. With a little help from my choir class, I hope that this time, I'll be able to show you in a way you'll understand." She took a few steps back and nodded towards the entrance to the gym.

Emma watched as the students in the choir filed in, arranging themselves in two neatly lined rows. Regina pulled out a small object from her pocket and blew into it to play one note.

Regina stood in front of the two rows as they started to hum and sing softly. Emma saw Regina take a deep breath before the brunette made eye contact with her as she began to sing.

" _You'll be my princess, and I'll be your Toad_ ," Regina sang with a small smile. " _I'll follow behind you on Rainbow Road. Protect you from red shells wherever we go. I promise_."

A grin spread across Emma's face as she recognized the subject of the song.

" _No one will touch us if we pick up a star. And if you spin out, you can ride in my cart. When we slide together we generate sparks in our wheels and our hearts_ ," Regina continued. The students behind her were all smiling widely as they watched their choir director serenade the gym teacher.

" _The finish line is just around the bend. I'll pause the game so our love will never end. Let's go again_."

Emma tilted her head as she thought about the words. Had Regina really gone through all the trouble to teach her students a song to express her love for Emma? In, as Regina had said, a way that Emma would understand?

Maybe Emma had been too quick to accuse the woman in front of her. At that moment, it was clear to her that Regina would go to the ends of the earth for her.

The choir finished up the song and Regina gave Emma a tentative smile. Emma returned her smile as tears filled up in her eyes.

Regina slowly walked up to Emma and took her hands in hers. "So… what do you say?"

Emma sniffed and looked down at their joined hands. "I think I get it," she said with a little laugh.

"Do you…?" Regina started tentatively. "I mean, can we…?" She paused, trying to find the right words.

"I'm free tomorrow," Emma interrupted with a smile. "I hear that couples are usually supposed to do something romantic on Valentine's Day, but seeing as every place is probably booked up by now, we could always… eat dinner at my place and then play Mario Kart."

Regina laughed and nodded. "I think I'd like that."

Emma's grin widened. She looked around them for a minute. "Our students are all staring at us."

"Indeed they are," Regina replied. "They're probably just waiting for this." With that, she leaned forward and placed her lips onto Emma's.

Cheers echoed in the gymnasium, causing the two women to break apart with laughs. At the same time, the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. The students gathered their stuff and filed out, leaving the two women alone again.

"Do you want to do something tonight?" Emma asked. "Unless you have plans already, that is…"

Regina shook her head and tugged on Emma's hand, dragging her towards the closest set of doors. "Come along, my princess. We have some catching up to do…"


End file.
